The disclaimer text is null and void if it cannot be read, which is the main point I get from this information, though I can't quote anything directly on this except for my cursory knowledge of the law.

i think part of the issue with that is who determines whether it's legible or can't be read? is it your eyes? my eyes? my 70 yr old dad's eyes? if it's my dad's 70yr old eyes, how to you test it?

even worse on the web, where the actual medium changes by user. in print, i know exactly what it's going to look like. on the web, different monitors, different resolutions, different contrasts... it's not something you can control.

you can control minimum font size, but you can't control screen resolution or screen size on a monitor. 6 pt in a browser on your monitor may be a different actual size than 6 pt in a browser on my monitor. that was my point.

Generally speaking, the disclaimer text is:
6pt if it's on a dark background
5pt if it's on a white or very light colored background

However, there is no standard rule - other than you have to be able to read it. Obviously this isn't something that gets enforced often. If it did, half the commercials on television wouldn't get approved. Have you ever seen a disclaimer in a TV spot? They're generally so small, and scroll so fast that you couldn't possibly read them even if you viewed the video frame-by-frame.

The important thing to remember is that a disclaimer exists to cover your ass. If your disclaimer is so large that you feel the need to shrink it down to an unreadable state, consider just having a disclaimer that states "see Web site for more information: h††p://www.somewebsitehere.com"

I wouln't go below 7, otherwise some farsighted people might not be able to read it :P If you are in a really nasty mood you could also change the font color on it :P like a light grey on a white bacground, if your plan is to reduce visitbility even further...

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